SMAS (Solid Material Assembling System)

SMAS is a of reinforced masonry construction system. A standard building block processed by this system, 30cm x 30cm x 18cm in size and 20kg in weight, is made of pre-cast concrete and includes cross-shaped steel bar inside each component for the reinforced of structural wall. The design of the building blocks along with the design of the robot system and the logistics was part of the project. Building blocks are positioned automatically by the robot one by one without arrangements of conventional bonding. Following the positioning of each component, steel bars are connected to those of adjacent components also by the robot. The joint type of steel bar for vertical direction is mechanical, and that for lateral direction is overlapping. Concrete is grouted from the top of the wall which is erected one story high (about 3m). The newly developed operating hand is installed to the mother robot (6-articulation-type robot) which was developed for a wide variety of applications in factory use and a series of experiments for wall erection were carried out.

The SMAS System itself was designed as a modular system for the purpose that single components could be developed further in the future. All system components including the building blocks were developed as complementary parts according to the guidelines of Robot Oriented Design (ROD).

Publications:

T. Bock,
A Concept of Building System for Robotization , in: Proceedings of the 4th ISARC in Haifa (International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction), S. 525-541, 1987

Bock, Thomas,
A Study on Robot-Oriented Construction and Building System. Ed: University of Tokyo, In: National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, 29.03. 1989.

T. Bock,
Systematic Design Analysis for (ROD) Design Synthesis Shown at the Example of a Structural Joining System Suited for Robotic Assembly, in: Proceedings of the 6th ISARC (International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction), S. 111-118, San Francisco, 06.06.1989, US